Meen peera

If you can get the small natholi (anchovy, podimeen) cleaned, this is one of the easiest and tastiest fish preparations. An excellent combo with rice or even with puttu (steamed rice cake).

Ingredients

Cleaned anchovy (natholi, podimeen) - 1/2 kg
Small onions - 5-6
Green chilly - 3
Garlic - 2 cloves
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Grated coconut - 1 cup
Coconut oil - 2 tbsp
Salt - as per taste
Kudampuli (Gambooge) - 2-3 big pieces



Method

1. Crush together the small onions, green chilly, garlic, ginger, salt, curry leaves & grated coconut.
2. Transfer this mixture to the manchatti (mud pan - in which you are going to cook) and add the gambooge too. Mix thoroughly with hand till the coconut start releasing its oil. Don't mix too hard, just keep doing with the finger tips and soon coconut will become soft and start releasing oil.
3. At this point, add the cleaned fish, mix again.
4. Switch on the flame and keep the manchatti on it (on low flame). Keep it covered and cook till its cooked well. After about 5 min, open the lid and mix thoroughly. Sprinkle little water if needed.
5. Once the fish is cooked, open the pan and cook for another 2-3 min for the mixture to dry up.
6. Sprinkle coconut oil towards the end, give a thorough mix once again and cover and keep for 10-15 min before serving.

Natholi / Anchovy Fry

One of the tastiest fish I have ever had...love to chew it along with its soft, crispy bone..

Ingredients

Natholi / Anchovy - 500g, cleaned and washed

Salt - approx 1 1/2 tsp

Chilly powder - 1 tsp

Kashmiri chilly powder - 1 tsp

Pepper powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Vinegar - 2 tsp

Method

1. Prepare the marinade by mixing all mentioned ingredients except the fish.

2. Later add the fish to the marinade and mix well. Set it aside for atleast 15 min.

3. Deep fry in enough oil.

Prawns Stir fry / Chemmeen Olarthu

I am a prawns person...I can eat this species in any form, except with life....One of my quick fix olarthu recipe.

Ingredients

To marinate
Prawns (de-shelled, de-veined. washed) - 1 cup
Chilly powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - as per taste

To saute
Small onions - 1 cup, thinly sliced
Green chilly - 2 , slit lengthwise
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece, crushed
Garlic - 2 cloves, curshed
Coconut oil - 2 tbsp
Chilly powder - 1 tsp (if its above your tolerance, then add kashmiri chilli powder)



Method

1. Marinate the cleaned prawns with items mentioned in "To marinate". Allow it to rest for atleast 30 min.
2. Heat a kadai or manchatti, add the coconut oil. Once its hot enough, add the crushed ginger - garlic and saute till raw smell goes (about a min).
3. Add the sliced onions, chillies and curry leaves and saute till they turn light brown. You can sprinkle some salt at this stage to expedite the browning process.
4. Now sprinkle the chilli powder and saute till raw smell is gone (approx 30 seconds) and add the marinated prawns.
5. Stir well, so that the masala coats on the entire dish.
6. Close and cook for about 2 minutes. Open the lid and give a good stir.
7. Adjust the salt. Let it cook, with lid open, for another 4-5 minutes. Your prawns should be done by now. Prawns should not be cooked for too long, as it would become rubbery then. It need to retain its juices and tenderness.



Serve it along with hot rice.

Meenmutta fry / Fish roe fry with coconut

Don't know how many of you have really had it... this is one of the best accompaniments for rice. And you can really eat 2-3 servings of rice with just a little of this meenmutta fry...its soooo yum.



Ingredients

Meen mutta / Fish roe - medium one
Small onions - 6, thinly sliced
Green chilly - 2, thinly sliced
Ginger - 1 tsp, grated
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
Salt
Coconut oil - 2 tbsp

Method

Mix all the ingredients together, mix (with hand) the fish roe too along with this. Keep it aside for some time.

 Heat oil in a non-stick pan. When hot, add the fish roe mixture to it and fry in a low heat till the whole thing is cooked and turns crisp.

Note : This can be made only with fish roe of bigger fishes like King fish (neymeen / Ayikkoora) , Black pomphret etc.

Mathicurry / Sardines in tangy coconut sauce

One of my favorite sardine preparation, and my grandmother's signature dish. The taste really depends on the tanginess of the green mango.



Ingredients

Sardines - 6 (cleaned, cut into half)
Green mango sliced - 1 cup (depends on the tanginess. If the mangoes aren't tangy enough, add more green mango or adjust with some dried green mango like I did)
Small onions - 6
Garlic - 2 big cloves
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Coconut oil - 2 tbsp



For Grinding

Grated coconut - 2 cups
Water - 1 cup
Chilly powder - 2 tsp (I used an additional 1 tsp of Kashmiri chilly powder too, just to get the colour right)

Grind the above to a smooth paste.

For tempering

Small onions - 3, thinly sliced
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Coconut oil - 1 tbsp



Method

Heat a manchatti and add the coconut oil. Crush small onions, garlic and ginger using a mortar and pestle. Add the crushed mixture to the heated oil and saute for couple of minutes. Throw in a sprig of curry leaves. Now add the ground coconut mixture into it. Stir well. Once it starts to boil, add the sliced raw mango pieces and the cleaned sardines. Cover and cook. Open the lid in between and gently stir. Check for salt and add as required. Once the sardines are cooked well, switch off the stove. If the curry isn't tangy enough, add some vinegar towards the end.

In a non-stick pan, heat 1 tbsp of coconut oil and add sliced small onions and curry leaves. Once they turn brown and crisp enough pour it into the sardine curry and keep the chatti closed for sometime, to allow the flavours to set in. Your yummy sardine curry is ready!! It tastes wonderful with boiled rice as well as puttu.

Kerala Mussels Roast / Kallummakkaya Varattiyathu

I first tasted kallummakkaya (Kerala mussels) while in engineering college, when my kannur friend brought "kallummakkaya nirachathu" which her mom made. It was really yum!! ..I can still get that taste in my mouth! I have never seen it in Cochin side...at times have heard my mom (she was raised in Calicut) sigh about the taste of this wonderful dish. I am happy to see these now a days in Dubai. I grabbed half a kg during the weekly shopping, but this time I wasn't lucky..the guy at the counter refused to clean it for me :) ...I hate the cleaning process...its a long and hard one, but the end product is worth all the effort that you put in.




Ingredients

Mussels / Kallummakkaya - 1/2 kg
Salt - as per taste
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Small onions - 8, crushed
Garlic - 4 pods, crushed
Chilly powder - 1 tsp
Pepper powder - 1 tsp (as per your tolerance level)
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Sliced coconut - 1/2 cup (optional)
Coconut oil -  as required

Method

Clean the mussels thoroughly (beware! cleaning mussles is a long painstaking process, so be prepared for it). Wash it under running water 2-3 times. Drain the water, and marinate the mussels with salt and turmeric powder. Let it rest for 20 min. Then cook the mussels in little water (less than half cup). Let all the water get evaporated (Don't cook the mussels for too long, as it will become rubbery). Remove it from stove.

  

   

                       

Crush the small onions and garlic using mortar and pestle. In a chatti or kadai, heat coconut oil. If using coconut slices, add it first. Saute for sometime till its cooked. Then add the crushed onions, garlic along with curry leaves. Saute till the raw smell goes. Add the chilly powder and saute for a minute. Now add the cooked mussels and mix well with the masala. Let it get cooked for approx 5 min. Sprinkle the powdered pepper, mix well and switch off the stove. 

Kerala Fish Curry in Coconut gravy

I guess the use of coconut milk is fish curry is more prevalent in the northern part of Kerala. In my hometown, we cannot imagine a fish curry without the rich delicious coconut milk. We do not need too many side dishes if there is a fish curry with enough "chaaru" (gravy), and it need to be tangy. We either add green mango or vinegar for the tartness. We like our rice to be soaked in the coconut gravy and slurp in the chaaru alone at the end of lunch...yum...



Ingredients

Fish  -1 kg, sliced
Big onion - 1 medium, thinly cliced
Ginger - 2 inch piece, thinly sliced
Garlic - 4 big pods, thinly sliced
Green chilly - 4, slit lengthwise
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Coconut milk (thick) - 1 1/2 cups
Coconut milk (thin) - 3 cups
Green mango (sliced) - 1 medium or Vinegar - 3 tbsp
Coconut oil - 2 tbsp

For tempering

Coconut oil - 1 tsp
Shallots - 4, thinly sliced
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Chilly powder - a pinch

Method

Add coconut oil to a manchatti. Once its hot, add the sliced ginger, garlic, chilly and curry. Once the raw smell is gone, add the sliced onions and saute well. Once sauteed well, add the powders (turmeric, chilly and coriander) and saute till raw smell is gone. Now add the thin coconut milk and let it boil. Meanwhile check salt and add as per your taste. If adding green mango, add at this stage. When the coconut milk is boiling, add the cleaned, sliced fish (the fish pieced should be immersed in coconut milk). Keep the lid closed till allow the fish to cook well. Once the fish is cooked, add the thick milk and switch off the stove when its almost boiling (shouldn't allow the thick milk to boil, it might curdle).

                        

       

    

In another pan, add 1 tsp of oil and saute the sliced onions and curry leaves. The shallots should be brown and crisp. Then switch off the stove and add a pinch of chilly powder. Stir it and then add it to the prepared fish curry. (The chilly powder adds a nice grainy red shade to the fish curry). Immediately close the lid of meenchatti (manchatti) and allow the flavours to set in. You can use it after 10 min. 

Kerala Koonthal / Squid / Kanava / Calamari Roast

I never had a liking for squid until now..In fact, I hated the look of it in the fish section. Moreover, my husband is allergic to such exotic seafood, which means all the more reason to avoid it from weekly shopping. But in one of my recent blogosphere expeditions, I came across a beautifully presented kanava roast. I should say, there was an immediate spark within me and waited till the next shopping day to buy some squid. Luckily the guy at fish counter cleaned it well for me. I made it as per instructions in this blog (except that I used small onions instead of big onions as in the blog), since I have no experience eating / seeing it prepared earlier. We never used to get koonthal, neither in my hometown nor at my husband's. But good that I tried it out, it made our lunch delicious and spicy. My son loved it!! and thankfully my hubby didn't develop any allergic reaction to it..so this is gonna be a regular in our lunch.



Ingredients

To marinate
Cleaned koonthal / squid - 1/2 kg
Red chilly powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - as per taste

For the masala
Small onions - 1cup, thinly sliced
Green chilly  - 3, slit lengthwise
Garlic - 4 pods, crushed
Ginger - 1 inch piece, crushed
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Tomato - 1 medium, chopped
Red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
Pepper powder - 1 tsp (as per your tolerance)
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Salt - as per taste

Coconut oil - 3 tbsp

Method

Clean and wash the squid thoroughly under running water. Cut into rings. Marinate them with the items mentioned under "To marinate". Let it sit for about 30 minutes. Heat coconut oil in a manchatti, and saute the marinated squid along with some curry leaves till they turn hard. Care should be taken not to cook it too much at this stage as the squid will turn rubbery if cooked too much. Drain oil and keep it aside. In the same oil, saute the sliced onions, green chilly, curry leaves and crushed ginger and garlic. Saute till the raw smell is gone and onions slowly starts turning brown. Add the tomatoes, saute well till they are mushy. Now add the powders one by one and saute till raw smell is gone. Add the shallow fried squid at this stage and mix well. Let the squid gets cooked well in the masala (about 5-8 min). After that switch off the stove and let it rest (covered) for another 10-20 minutes.